Capability
by Ryden Purrson
Summary: Nobody thought he had the ability. He lacked the training, the strength, the technique. He lacked fundamental basics to accomplish the task set in front of him. But one being believed he had the capability within him to learn. Kyuubi will train him in abilities long lost to the eons.
1. Capability

"Umm, where's the room that Sasuke's in?" A boy doused in orange asked of a hospital nurse.

The receptionist-nurse behind the desk responded quickly and calmly, as expected of someone who deals with emergencies on a daily basis, "Mr. Uchiha is not allowed any visitors at the moment."

However, the orange jumpsuit-clad boy did not accept the seemingly rational answer from the nurse, "What?! Hey, hey! What's up with that?!"

Though the boy was being loud in a place full of sick and recovering people, the desk-nurse responded with amusement at the boy's antics, "I'm sorry, those are the rules." She gave a small chuckle as she saw the boy's mouth opening again to retort.

"Why, lady, tell me why?" the boy becoming frustrated at the lack of any explanation to his question.

A man with flaming white hair and a mask that covered the majority of his face stepped out from around the corner, looking a mixture of bored and annoyed, "Naruto, this is a hospital. Keep it down."

The boy in orange turned to look at the masked man, recognizing him immediately, Naruto ran over to him and excitedly started talking, "Say! Say! I've got a favor to ask!"

The older male looked down on Naruto with frustration evident in his eye, obviously having expected this from the small boy, "You don't need to say it." He calmly regarded the boy for a moment, seeing the gleam of hope coming from the shining blue irises in the boy's eyes, "Well, I thought it would come to this so..." The elder male paused hesitantly, seeing the boy's arms outstretched with a righteous grin on his young face. Naruto obviously believed that the teacher was going to give him the answer he wanted. "I searched for someone to watch over your training."

The boy looked frustrated, yet not completely taken aback, given he'd already had experience with this teacher for the past few months, "Why?!" The boy aimed his right hand at the teacher's face, finger pointing toward his chin, "I want you to teach me, Kakashi!"

Kakashi's eyes lazily closed halfway, still looking down on the small twelve-year-old boy, "I have some other matters to take care of." Kakashi spoke in a calm, offhanded manor, "I don't have time to trouble myself with you."

Naruto's eyes squinted as he crossed his arms over his chest, thinking hard about what Kakashi had said. After a brief moment, his face turned into a solid frown and then he took on an indignant look with his eye's focused solely on Kakashi, "Oh! Aha...!" Naruto pointed his left arm at Kakashi this time, finger pointing to his eye, "You're going to train Sasuke, aren't you?!"

Kakashi looked slightly surprised at the orange ninja's revelation, and at the speed he came to the conclusion, "Well... don't say that." The older male decided it'd be best to deflect the question back to what he was talking about before, "I found a teacher who's more reliable than I am!"

Naruto seemed content with that for the moment, and let his arm down. He remained hesitant though, knowing exactly who this person in front of him is, "Well... who is it?"

"It's me!" Shouted a person that had appeared behind Naruto.

"Huh..?" Naruto turned around to look at the person who claimed that they would be his teacher for the coming month, "Huh?! You! The Closet Perv!"

The Closet Perv didn't even flinch at the insult to his dignity in a public place, only giving a small response, "Such insolence."

Naruto looked scandalized, once again pointing at the subject of his frustrations, he regarded the Closet Perv with disgust, "Why's this guy my training teacher?!" Naruto was quick to point out a flaw with the selected teacher, "In the first place, he's weaker than me!"

Kakashi looked befuddled, "What did you say?" Obviously confused by how one of such high shinobi rank could be weaker than what it essentially a green genin-rank shinobi.

"But you see! But you see!" Naruto continued to point his finger at the man behind him while looking at Kakashi, "A long time ago, with my **Harem Jutsu** , this guy...!"

The selected teacher looked mortified the moment he realized what Naruto was about to point out. The teacher quickly rushed to cover the boy's mouth and prevented the boy from going any further.

Yet still, Kakashi was amused, his eyes opening ever so slightly more to look at the orange boy, "Harem Jutsu?" He mocked.

The teacher preventing Naruto from speaking responded immediately, "U-uh... it's nothing!" The teacher then turned toward the young boy and whispered in his ear, "I'll treat you to and buy you whatever you want later!" The older man silently bribed. Naruto was convinced immediately, "Just be quiet about that!"

Naruto was struggling for air but managed to gasp out an affirmative response, "You better."

Kakashi seemed bored again as his eyes drooped further, "Wow, I didn't know you were acquainted." Kakashi spoke in a tone that said 'I don't actually care either way'.

Yet the Closet Perv just patted the boys head and spoke with gritted teeth, "Well, they're unsavory ties, but..." The older male seemed to flashback to the very event where the **Harem Jutsu** was used, his face going into a catatonic state of mortification.

Naruto just held a deadpan look as he stared at the ridiculous man patting his head, "But why this guy?" Naruto's eyes, narrowed in annoyance looked back to Kakashi, "I definitely don't want him to."

The man's immobile state ended there, immediately responding to the boy's frustration with his own childish frustration, "Same here! If it weren't for Kakashi's favor, who'd teach you at all?"

"Then don't..." Depressingly answered the small boy, looking away from both men.

Kakashi decided to end the bickering there, "Now now, both of you... Don't say that." Kakashi walked over to Naruto's side and leaned down to whisper in the boy's ear, "Naruto, Ebisu is a private tutor who teaches the elite, a Special Jonin!" Kakashi was playing on the boy's lack of knowledge at this point, "He's truly better at teaching than I am."

Naruto looked down with squinted eyes, thinking over what Kakashi said. Realizing that he'd never heard of the term 'Special Jonin' before.

"Well, Naruto, of the three kids in Squad Seven that I taught, you're the worst at the basic skills. Get taught with care this time around." Kakashi bluntly stated, making sure Naruto didn't get any ideas in his thoughtful state.

Naruto responded as Kakashi had expected, Naruto indignantly shouted out his comparative prowess to his teacher of the past months, "How the heck am I inferior compared to Sakura and Sasuke?!"

Kakashi raised his arms up in exasperation, "Naruto..." Kakashi sighed out the words, "It's fact that you don't have the fundamentals down. No matter what you do, the basic skills are important." Kakashi continued staring at the boy below him, "If you really want to become strong, just be quiet and listen to everything I say." Kakashi's authoritarian mini-speech to Naruto ended the conversation abruptly. Kakashi turned to Ebisu and spoke calmly to him, "Now then, Ebisu, I'm leaving him with you."

Ebisu nodded his understanding to the white haired man as he watched Kakashi leave with his hands in his pockets.

Naruto watched the ground as he continued thinking over what Kakashi said. It had really hurt him, leaving a noticeable depressing feeling in him, knowing that he wasn't good enough for his teacher after everything he's accomplished.

"Okay, then, let's go." Ebisu droned out.

Naruto, however, continued looking at the ground.

Ebisu put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and attempted to lead him out of the hospital, but after feeling resistance from the boy, looked back at him. "Come now Naruto, we should start training immediately."

"No." Was Naruto's immediate response, "I don't feel like getting trained by you, or Kakashi. You're weaker than me, Kakashi doesn't care for me, and I can train on my own."

Ebisu looked critically at the boy, analyzing what he must be feeling... depressed at the loss of his teacher in favor of someone with more potential, jealousy, and a mixture of rage and anger. It could be his chance to get out of chore duty... "Fine then, if you need my help then Naruto, you can always find me with Konohamaru and join in our lessons then."

Ebisu understood that someone as prideful as Naruto would never sink himself low enough to taking the same training as someone almost four years his junior. And without training, it would be a rather entertaining first match of the chunin finals.

Naruto nodded understanding for Ebisu's words, not even bothering to bring up the free meal Ebisu had promised. Naruto followed Ebisu out the door and walked home on his own.

On the way home, Naruto realized that he had no solid plans for the coming month now, and from looking at Neji's fight with Hinata, he knew that he was going to lose unless he got some specialized training to beat Neji.

Naruto couldn't get that training on his own, and he had no way to avenge Hinata without beating Neji in the finals...

"Nmfg!" Naruto grunted out as a ran into someone as he was walking.

The other person appeared almost unaffected by the collision as they were still standing upright.

Naruto looked up, finding a woman with black hair, glowing red eyes, and an outfit that was asymmetrical, with one side having a long red sleeve, and the other exposing the entire arm. Her legs were entirely exposed while her forearms, hands, and upper thighs were wrapped in bandaging. "Hey! You're Hinata's teacher!" Naruto exclaimed to the woman.

The teacher smiled at the boy, "Most would apologize about bumping into each other before making conversation."

Naruto looked confused, "But didn't you bump into me too?"

The woman looked funnily at Naruto, as he got up from the ground and dusted himself off. It was still afternoon and many people were walking around the streets, "I suppose that's true enough. I guess we were both just distracted, nobody's fault here."

Naruto smiled up at the teacher, "So how's Hinata doing?"

The red eyed woman looked sadly at the youth in front of her, "She's been better, but she's expected to recover well after a few weeks in the hospital."

"Well that's great!" Shouted the bright eyed blonde, "I'll make sure to kick Neji's ass for her at the finals!" The blonde seemed to lose a little shine though, "I just need to find someone to teach me how..." Whispered the boy.

While she didn't quiet catch what Naruto had said at the end, she had a vague idea about what he might have said. He wanted to beat Neji in the exams, but lacked a means of doing so. It was understandable, Neji was a powerhouse and the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan. Without someone like the Hokage helping Naruto, there was no possible way to overcome the gap in their strengths.

She knew it wasn't something that she should do, but she pitied the blonde and felt he might need something to raise his spirits, "Well what do you say if I treat you to lunch then? I know this amazing restaurant."

Naruto hadn't ever really been to a restaurant before, most of them being too expensive for his allowance from the Hokage. But he was more than happy to accept, "Sure, lady!"

The red eyed woman had a small laugh, "My name's Kurenai, Naruto. Come this way, I was planning a trip over here anyways."

Kurenai led Naruto over to the restaurant and diner, The Round Leaf.

"It's a restaurant that's owned by one of my students' families, so I get a fairly nice discount here. I don't think I deserve it, but they know my face already and it really helps when I need something quick and easy to eat in the day." Kurenai explained to Naruto, hoping to start up a conversation with the anxious youth.

"Wow, that must be really cool! Was it Choji's family? I know they're really nice." Naruto asked, knowing something about his fellow classmates.

"Actually yes, this restaurant is owned by the Akamichi family. How did you get to know them Naruto? Choji a school friend of yours?" Kurenai felt a bit nostalgic talking about school. She was in school right after the Hidden Leaf Villages's short war with the Hidden Cloud Village and was given military-grade training in case war broke out again. For her to hear about 'school friends' gave her a feeling of happiness about how well the new generation was growing up.

Yet, Naruto looked nervous, "Kind of, not exactly. I just saw how Choji's family was so happy after they picked him up every day and kind of assumed he had a great family." The mood dropped suddenly, Kurenai understood immediately why he would be watching Choji. That envy for other happy families that Naruto saw as he sat alone on that old swing under the tree.

The saving grace for that awkward conversation was the waiter coming to get their orders.

As they chose their meals, Kurenai couldn't help but ask a question that had been plaguing her, "So where did Kakashi go? I'd have thought he'd be training you and Sasuke for the coming month."

Naruto got a forlorn look as he looked down at the table, "He's not training me for the month, he's going to be training Sasuke exclusively. He said I need to work on the fundamentals for the month. So he tried to stick me with a Special Jonin for training. A Closet Pervert one too..."

Kurenai looked shocked, the concept seemed foreign to her. A teacher abandoning one of his students for another? When both are going against impossible odds? Abhorrent. After all these months, it seems that he hasn't been working with Naruto at all to fix the fundamental mistakes he was already making.

And yet, there wasn't anything she could do about it. He wasn't her student, and the abilities she had wouldn't help him at all for his match in the finals.

She let the conversation sink in and memorized everything about it for future prospects. For the moment though, their food arrived and both of them were hungry.

-==Break==-

After the food was gone, and Kurenai paid the bill for the food, they were about to part ways.

"I have to go get some groceries, so I wish you the best luck at the finals." Kurenai gave a small smile to Naruto as she turned to go to the store.

"Wait!" Naruto chased after Kurenai as she was walking to the store, "I can help you out with that. It's the least I can do since you treated me to such an amazing meal!" Naruto grinned up at the taller woman.

Kurenai gave a smile back at the boy, "I'd appreciate that."

At the convenience store, Naruto was busy helping Kurenai get everything that she needed, when Naruto felt a small spike of pain from his stomach.

Kurenai, being a trained shinobi, noticed the flinch immediately, "Something wrong Naruto?"

Naruto gave a huge smile, "Nothing at all! Just a stomach ache. I'll be fine!" Naruto giving two thumbs up to the red eyed woman.

Kurenai gave a concerned smile back, "It might have just been the food, maybe you ate something you weren't suppose to after eating so much ramen for so long." She gave a small chuckle.

Naruto looked aghast, "No way! That food was almost as good as ramen! Nothing that good could ever cause pain! It might just be because I'm so full of so much good stuff!"

Kurenai gave another small laugh at Naruto's active imagination. Yet she was pleased that he enjoyed the diner so much.

They finished gathering all of the groceries and rang them up. Naruto assisting Kurenai with getting all the groceries over to her apartment, unfortunately on the second floor.

"Thank you for your help Naruto. I appreciate your help with my food this late in the evening."

"No! Thank you so much for today Kurenai! I feel like I'm ready to start training to punch Neji's face in already! I can feel it, that I will win!"

Kurenai smiled at Naruto, not sure how she felt about his feeling. But she could only help him by showing him her support, "I think you can do it too Naruto. Best of luck with training, Hinata, me, and our whole team is going to be supporting you at the finals."

Naruto simply bounced off and hopped off the railing of the second floor into full sprint, "Yeah! I can do it!"

Kurenai frowned, knowing that there was no logical way he could beat Neji in the finals. But hope was always good, even if someone had no ability to achieve their hopes.

-==Break==-

Naruto got to his apartment at lightning speed. Unlocking and opening the door he was greeted with his normal setup, eaten containers of insta-ramen and spoiled milk that should have been thrown away days ago.

But Naruto didn't notice any of that, all he could see was a bed, and a destination to a future of Neji ass kicking. Naruto planned on waking up bright and early to begin his training to show Neji how wrong he is!

Naruto felt the pain in his stomach again, "Eugh, stomach ache." Naruto cringed up as he felt the burning in his gut, "Well, I don't think I'll be eating at the Round Leaf for a while." Naruto gritted out. But knew that the food was good enough there that he'll probably want to go back there sometime in the future. Affordable or not.

It was just a stomach ache, he'd gotten those in the past and they always disappeared after some sleep. He knew that meant it was just that much more important to get some quality sleep tonight.

After a quick bathroom trip, Naruto was laying in bed. He slept through the pain that night.

-==Break==-

" **Well aren't you in a good mood today.** " Rumbled a voice, rousing Naruto from his sleep. " **I suppose you should be, the woman was quite beautiful. For a hairless monkey of course.** "

Naruto's eyes cracked open, noticing he was in some kind of dank and dark place. There was water on his back and some rustling sounds coming from his right.

A voice gave a mighty harrumph and spoke victoriously, " **And to think that** **sly** **bastard thought he could contain the mighty Kyuubi with a human-made seal! Ridiculous.** "

At the sound of the name of the mightiest of the demon spirits that walked the earth, Naruto shot up from his downed position in the water, and faced toward a set of bars with the word 'seal' printed on a paper in the middle of it.

" **And he wakes from his slumber!** " The voice joked, as a mighty fox seemed to materialize from the shadows behind the cage, a giant grin on its maw, " **And I thought I took long naps.** " It laughed amused.

Naruto back pedaled slightly, tripping over his feet and landing on his butt as he worked to shuffle away from the cage. " **You're the Kyuubi. The thing sealed inside of me as a baby?** "

Kyuubi lost some of its smile, " **Yes I am, I am the Nine Tailed Fox, sealed into you all those years ago.** "

Naruto looked up at the fox, perplexed as for where to go from here, "So... what now?"

The fox looked just as confused now, " **I suppose I should start with the reason I brought you** **in** **here.** " The giant fox began, " **I have been watching you since you were a child, disgusted at the life you've lived and the actions of those around you. I've been disinterested in you the moment you** **had the** **desire to protect this village and train to be a shinobi. I've been shocked at how surprisingly naive and stupid you've been up to this point, and perplexed at how you've managed to live this long even with me healing you all this time.** "

Frustrated, Naruto was getting angry at all the insults, "Hey! Shut up! I haven't had much to go off of! What does any of this have to do with why you brought me into here?"

The fox grumbled, " **If you'd let me finish... But yes, I've become frustrated with you, Naruto. I've become truly sickened by how pathetic you are. Your failures in Wave country, your failures in every chunin test, your failure to call your teacher out on his crap, your failure to use that special jonin for training, and your failure to ask that other jonin for help when you know you need it!** "

Naruto looked glumly at the ground, knowing it was true. He needed help and he couldn't get any, "And so what are you going to do about it!? I doubt you can teach me anything, I doubt anyone wants to teach me! I don't even know the basics of how to be a shinobi." Naruto dejected.

The fox smiled, " **No, but that's where I come in. Allow me to give you a bit of history on the tale of the tailed beasts.** " The fox in a box noticed Naruto's skepticism, but continued, " **Not many know of this, but once we tailed beasts were all united, as one singular being. Known as the Shinju Tree.** **That tree, which was the origin for all tailed beasts, has existed for longer than you can comprehend.** **T** **hat tree has seen sights that** **no living creature could understand** **.** "

Naruto looked troubled, the orange coated vulpine creature was telling quite the story here, and he didn't understand how any of this worked. How did a tree spawn the tailed beasts and all of their destructive abilities?

" **I won't go into very many details here, simply because they aren't important. What is important, is that you understand that I still hold many of these memories from the original Shinju Tree.** " Kyuubi paused and let that small bit sink in, " **This Shinju Tree was all-seeing, the equivalent of a god while it existed. In the face of catastrophe, only it would remain, as life regrew from it. It could see everything, and it memorized everything. I can show you the memories of the Shinju Tree, and have you learn techniques long forgotten** **by showing them to you from its point of view.** "

Naruto looked bug eyed upon the great fox demon, the thing that caused disaster upon his village, and it was helping him to become stronger. "Why are you doing this? What do you have to gain?"

Kyuubi looked smug, knowing it had made an offer that the orange shinobi could never refuse, " **I simply want the satisfaction of knowing that the one dominating me and containing me is the strongest in the world, not some lowly scumbag who's going to die in a month.** **I am immortal, never dying, and all powerful. I have been sealed for almost a full century now, I feel the need for something special.** "

Naruto looked at the Kyuubi with hope in his eyes. Never before had anyone ever helped him like this before. "Okay. I'll do it."

" **Then I'll take you to my own mindscape, that is where I can show you the past.** " The nine-tails closed his eyes, **"I will need you to come inside of the bars, that will be the only way I can take you there. You will have to trust me.** "

Naruto looked skeptical, if he had to step through those bars... No, that was too convoluted of a plan. And while it would be ingenious, there were better ways, and faster ones if Kyuubi wanted to kill him. He would trust the fox that made him this deal.

Stepping inside the bars; instantly there was a brief flash.

He arrived at an evening meadow, a peaceful grassland that stretched beyond the horizon. Trees seemed scarce and the only animals he could see were small foxes that were running around the edges of his vision. The scene seemed, almost beautiful in a way.

Not a single soul or person in sight, not even Kyuubi looked to be here yet.

" **Foxes have become extinct in your world.** " Spoke a calm voice from behind Naruto.

Naruto turned around and found an average sized red fox with multiple tails behind it, and from the sound of the voice, it probably has nine tails.

" **Or at least nearly so, they've been hunted to extinction because of the torment I've caused. Humans have killed them for sport and maimed them in revenge. Now if there are any left, they're not anywhere close to human settlements.** " The Kyuubi mourned.

"Why are you..." Naruto was confused as to why the Kyuubi would tell him this.

" **I thought it would be best to start off by explaining why I hate humans so much. Because maybe then you might be able to trust me a little more, since we'll be spending some amount of time together for training.** " The nine-tailed fox hesitated, " **The humans have created various ways over the years to control us tailed beasts, by sealing us, controlling us, or just enraging us. And when we cause destruction because of** **those methods** **, we get blamed for everything. Can you really** **blame** **us completely for hating humans so much?** "

Naruto stared at the small fox in empathy, "I guess I can understand that."

" **Well, I suppose I'm just a sap for good-natured people like you who try their hardest but get stopped at every turn. Don't think too much into it.** " Kyuubi walked a small distance away and put a paw up, pointing toward some invisible point in space in front of him, there a small ripple appeared. That ripple expanded to form a sort of bluish portal that led to something unknown. " **This should take you to a time that I believe you have the best chance of learning something. Specifically, I want you to look at two people, Tatsuya Shiba and Masaki Ichijou.** **But if you have any extra time, try learning more from the people around them.** "

Naruto nodded his head and slowly walked forward to the portal, until he was completely engulfed by walking through it.

-==Break==-

Kyuubi watched as Naruto emerged from the portal again, obviously still exhausted from all the practicing in previous segments, " **Have you completely memorized it this time?** "

Naruto nodded, "Y-yeah, I think I have. I should be good." Naruto got ready, but the Nine-Tailed Fox stopped him by raising a paw.

" **No, you're running completely out of energy, that means it's time to eat and get some real rest with actual dreams. I'm going to send you back out into the real world again. If you want to come back in here, just hold your hand over your seal and push chakra into it, that should allow us to communicate and allow me to get you in here much faster.** "

Naruto nodded, understanding everything.

Naruto was then immediately shoved into his actual body. He had a mission; toilet and shower first, eat second, sunlight third, and sleep last. After he'd wake up from eight hours of solid sleep, he'd go back into the seal for further training.

He would need to repeat this process every other day, to make sure his body didn't completely die out on him. Kyuubi could enhance his body to reflect changes inside his mind, just as Kyuubi could supplement some foods for him; but not only was liquid a challenge, but getting rid of it was a problem too. Other issues existed too, which would only be solved by going out into his body to fix them. So they found the limit for this process to be every other day.

There was only one large issue that existed for Naruto with this training, and that was the lack of any response from others to this change. Nobody had noticed his disappearance, nobody had questioned his location. It was terrifying knowing that nobody cared for where you were after a whole week of never leaving your home. But that only made him try harder, he would make them want to care! He would make them notice!

-==Break==-

" **Naruto, I have one last gift for you before the exam.** " Kyuubi was just wrapping up the last day of training before the exam. Naruto was going to get one day off to completely recover from the training done, and to help Naruto get accustomed to reality again. " **I want you to sign my summoning contract, for the foxes.** "

Contract? "But, Kyuubi, I thought you said foxes were basically extinct?" Questioned Naruto.

" **Yes, normal foxes are extinct on your world, but in a different land, a different place, there's special foxes that can speak and know the** **shinobi** **arts. They are 'summons' or beings that shinobi use to assist them in their** **duties** **.** "

"Oh, well that's cool! How do I sign?!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

The fox began heaving heavily, as it worked to get something out of its body. Naruto immediately understood what was going on and got a disgusted look on his face.

The Kyuubi finally got the scroll out of his stomach and passed it over to Naruto, " **Don't worry, I told you before, I'm a construct of Chakra. I don't need to eat, and I don't digest things. It's just a safe place to keep that scroll, since it's so important to our** **kind** **.** "

Naruto opened the scroll and noticed that there was only one other name in it, Hagoromo Ootsutsuki. "Who's this guy?"

The Kyuubi knew immediately who Naruto was talking about, the only human the Kyuubi thought he'd ever allow to sign the scroll, " **I've told you about him, but by a different name. He's the Sage of Six Paths, the originator of the shinobi. The foxes were his personal summons, though he rarely had use in summoning us.** "

Naruto looked shocked at the scroll, "And I sign in blood, right?"

" **How else would you sign a scroll as important as that.** " Smiled the Fox.

Naruto quickly signed his name in blood and bloodied his fingers to put down his fingerprints on the scroll as well. After which the Kyuubi gave additional information.

" **It would be to your benefit to allow me to summon the foxes for you.** **I'll preform the hand-signs in your mind, so** **if you ever need a summon, just slice a finger and place it on the ground, I'll do the rest.** " The Kyuubi was a real benefit to a shinobi, in both teaching and in short-cutting techniques completely. " **That will be all for today, rest up for the rest of tonight, an** **d take it easy for** **your r** **ecovery** **day tomorrow.** "

-==Break==-

The day of the finals came quickly.

Naruto secured himself an early breakfast and made sure that he was going to the exam area fully equipped.

Traveling to the arena, nothing called out to him as odd or suspicious. Sun's shining. Partly cloudy. Overall, a perfect day for the chunin exam finale.

The chunin exam area looked to be an open-topped oval-shaped structure. It had seats for spectators at the top in sectioned areas.

In the largest seating area, there existed a second floor to it where the most important spectators would be sitting, that including the Hokage and Kazekage.

The arena itself was plain and almost barren, favoring those who could win all-out battles. It's enclosed space, lack of hidden areas, and places of strategic importance made factors like speed, hand-to-hand combat, and other short-range techniques valuable assets. Long-range techniques, ambush tactics, and any abilities that could not be used quickly were conversely useless.

The area even lacked any sort of water, so water based techniques became near impossible.

It's an arena truly favoring people of specific talents. People with talents like his.

All of these thoughts and more passed through Naruto's head as he walked into the arena after verifying his identity with the registrars at the gate of the exam area.

In the middle of the exam area stood another seven people already waiting, it seemed that even arriving this early wasn't early enough. Beside the proctor for the finals, the rest were all contestants.

The first is Temari, a blonde haired girl who specialized in wind techniques. Her abilities are quick and long ranged, with a wide area of effect. She herself lacks speeds and physical strength.

The second is her brother Kankuro, with his normal puppet wrapped on his back. A puppet user, techniques requiring no hand-signs at all, with quick and efficient killing techniques built in throughout the puppet. Yet Kankuro himself, like his sister, is physically weak and immobile.

The third person he noticed is Gaara, the third sibling of the group. He's completely immobile and hardly ever moves from a single spot, relying entirely on his sand to defend and attack for him. Though the sand seems to be an impervious defense to all physical attacks.

All of those three siblings seemed nearly perfect for this competition, almost like they were hand selected for this type of battle arena.

The next person lined up is Neji, the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan. Neji specializes in close range hand-to-hand combat, and because of that he is favored in his matches. His speed and technique are nearly flawless, and his mastery of the **J** **y** **uuken** style of the Hyuuga is said to rival masters of the clan.

The fifth person lined up in the finals is Shikamaru. He's a tactician, plain and simple. He plans out fights beforehand and creates a strategy to win. The arena is heavily apposing him, with no time to plan out anything if the opponent has an ace in their sleeve.

The last of the contestants lined up is Shino. A contestant that relies primarily on using his personal hive that exists throughout his body. The bugs feed on his chakra and serve to protect him through various techniques that the bugs can preform.

Various contestants had yet to arrive, like Sasuke and Dosu, but otherwise, these would be his opponents for the exam.

"Hey, you over there. Don't be so restless." Called out the proctor, shocking Naruto from his analytical studying, "Throw out your chest and show your face to the spectators."

Naruto nodded in the direction of the proctor and joined the line up of competitors.

He and Neji were the first fight. No time to waste, he would show everyone his capability!


	2. Showdown! Byakugan vs ?

"Everyone, thank you very much for coming to the Village Hidden in the Leaves Chunin Exam." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, began. "We will now begin the final round matches for the eight who made it through the preliminaries! Please watch until the end!"

Eight? The thought ran through the majority of the contestants heads.

The proctor looked at the contestants, "I have something to tell you before the match." The proctor pulled out what looked to be a tournament branch from his jonin vest, "Look at this." The proctor explained, "There was a slight change to the tournament. Check who you will be facing one more time."

Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyuuga

Gaara versus Sasuke Uchiha

Kankuro versus Shino Aburame

Temari versus Shikamaru Nara

'So this Dosu guy dropped out.' was the prevalent thought among the remaining contestants of the arena.

"Hey!" called out Naruto to the proctor, "Sasuke still hasn't showed up yet. What'll happen with him?"

The proctor looked blankly at Naruto, a thin wooden stick being chewed between his teeth. "If a competitor fails to show up by the time of their match. He or she will lose by default."

Naruto couldn't understand why Sasuke would turn up late, it was outside of his character to show up late for something as important as this.

The proctor continued with the explanation for the rules of the tournament, "Listen up. The terrain is different, but the rules remain that there are no rules, the same as in the preliminaries." Looking between each of the competitors, the proctor noted the features of the tournament, "The matches will continue until one or the other dies, or acknowledges defeat. However, if I judge that it has been settled, I'll stop the match there. Arguments are not allowed. Understood?"

All contestants stood firm in place, with serious faces at the prospect of a life and death fight coming toward them.

"So the first match is... Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga." The proctor called the names of the first two contestants of the match, then spoke to the remaining contestants, "Just those two remain and the rest of you go to the waiting room."

At the proctors word, all other contestants in the stadium exited toward the waiting room via a stairway inside a doorway on the side of the exam area.

As the proctor guided both Naruto and Neji to the center of the stadium to begin the match. As if the match wasn't already favored enough toward close range fighters, they place the contestants less than ten feet apart from each other.

As both Naruto and Neji stood apart from each other, Neji noticed the feral look on Naruto's face, "You seem like you want to say something."

Naruto's only response was to raise his fist to Neji and bow his head, covering his eyes. Naruto's body began trembling with some sort of severe emotion. Naruto spoke, "I said it before, too, didn't I?" Naruto referenced his words after Neji's fight with Hinata, "I'll win, no matter what!"

Neji's only response at first was to smirk arrogantly at Naruto, not in the slightest believing his words. Neji then activated his **Byakugan** in preparation for the fight, Neji taking his typical fighting stance. His left arm at chest height, slightly lifted and bent at the wrist and elbow, and his right arm held back slightly as well, bent in a similar way parallel with his body. His left foot placed in a wide stance in front of his right, "That makes it more worthwhile for me. I look forward to your look of disappointment when you know the true reality..."

Naruto stood up straight and puffed his chest a bit, "Stop whining!" wind began to swirl around Naruto, as if emulating his agitated strength, "Let's get started!"

The proctor, finally hearing the end of their pre-fight banter, gave the word to begin the match, "Now then, round one." He paused slightly, looking between the fighters, "Begin!"

Neji paused, waiting for any move from his blond foe.

Naruto didn't make a single move, waiting for his white eyed opponent's first move.

Neji began by slowly going an inch forward, attempting to get Naruto in closer striking range of his **J** **yuuken** fighting style.

'I can't unveil my hand too early, I'll just start by light prodding of his technique. Maybe I won't have to use...' Naruto suddenly threw three kunai near simultaneously at Neji.

Neji countered by deflecting one kunai, and grabbing another at the same time and using it to block the third kunai. All without flinching.

Naruto immediately went on the offense, throwing a punch at Neji's face, followed by an immediate chop to the shoulder, an attempt at dislocating an arm.

Neji countered perfectly, weaving his head to the side and parrying the hand to the shoulder, Neji then countered with a perfectly executed strike to the shoulder, sealing a chakra point.

Naruto went tumbling toward the ground, but quickly recovered and rolled away from Neji.

Neji was quick to point out the obvious power of his technique, "You understand, right? You have no way of winning." The power of the **J** **yuuken** is terrifying, the ability to manipulate an opponent's chakra with touches, taps, and slight application of chakra. But to Naruto, none of that mattered.

"Heh... all I did was verify your power. The real fight is just getting started!" Naruto proclaimed loudly. He formed the typical cross-seal for his signature technique, the... " **Shadow Clone Jutsu!** "

Quickly summoning four clones, all the Narutos brought out kunai to combat the hand-to-hand combat expert.

"I see, splitting your chakra among the clones equally so I can't tell the difference." Neji pondered loudly, "But there can only be one real one, and when I find you, you'll be at twenty percent of your normal chakra levels." Neji smirked at the foolishness of the orange boy's idea.

All the Naruto clones got in formation, with four in the front acting as vanguard to the Naruto in the back, all the Naruto's responded to Neji simultaneously, "Heh. Don't be acting tough!"

Neji was thoroughly amused by this strategy, "If you're going to come, then come."

Naruto himself was also amused by the lack of thought Neji gives to a fight, the four Narutos charged Neji at once, sweeping in at four points.

But Neji wouldn't be cornered. He tumbled over the front two Narutos and immediately counter attacked. Outclassing the Narutos Neji took them out in twos.

But Naruto wasn't even concerned about this, he saw Neji's moves and understood them better. The Naruto in the back line watched raptly as he studied Neji's fighting style.

"You will become hokage someday?" Neji asked, "Intrinsic abilities are set, I can see that with these eyes. Everything inherent about people is set." Neji looked harshly at Naruto, "Not everyone can become the hokage, you can't become hokage by just working hard. It's not something you become by trying to become it. It's determined by destiny."

Naruto looked heatedly back at Neji, "So what? I'll do whatever it takes, I'll fight against destiny itself if I have to. **Shadow Clone Jutsu!** "

This time, Naruto made an obscene amount of clones to fight Neji. The number of clones seemingly near the triple digits.

Neji himself was shocked by the number of clones created in that instant, each of them with equal amounts of chakra, "How do you still have so much chakra left!" Neji called out to Naruto.

Naruto just smiled. He didn't need the majority of his chakra to use his more severe techniques, he just needed to try and force Neji to his limits to find if he had any aces to worry about.

The Naruto army seemed to have no concern for Neji's stupification and charged right for him, opening up with a variety of assaults. Not a single one landing.

Neji side stepped, punched, chopped, parried, kicked, and did all manor of beatings to the various Naruto clones. Though realizing how pointless the brawl was getting, Neji ran for the back-most Naruto from him.

Bobbing and weaving through the army of Narutos, Neji finally got to the Naruto waiting for him in the back and delivered a fatal instant-kill hit to the heart.

"You've been waiting in the back lines, throwing the least hits, and safe-guarding yourself to protect your chakra points this whole time." Neji said loudly for Naruto to hear.

As if proving his statement, clones began disappearing left and right, and Naruto began spitting up blood from his mouth.

Naruto panted, coughing up a bit more blood. Then spoke one last time, "I told you before, not to assume such things of me." The near-death Naruto suddenly burst out of existence in a cloud of smoke.

Neji gasped and searched with his **Byakugan** for where the real Naruto was. Only to find him as soon as he turned around, barreling toward Neji with a fist ready.

"I've been striking the most from the beginning, prepared for an honorable death!"

Just as Naruto's fist was about to land on Neji's cheek, it was stopped just short by an invisible barrier.

Naruto seemed to hang in mid-air as a soft wind started to blow through the immediate area around Neji. Neji suddenly spun around on his heal and Naruto was sent flying backwards by a large force of visible blue chakra spiraling around Neji.

Naruto shakily got up, softly asking, "What was that?" as he got to his feet.

Neji arrogantly smiled down on Naruto again, "Did you think you'd won?" He almost laughed out.

Naruto didn't comment this time, and decided to call out another " **Shadow Clone Jutsu**." This time only making about six Naruto clones.

They all surrounded Neji and attacked at the same time, testing out the capabilities of this new factor.

Neji pivoted on his feet again and spun, blue chakra becoming visible around him once more as the direct area around him became a violent storm of chakra, sending all clones back and immediately dispersing them.

Naruto got up unsteadily again, clumsily reaching his feet, "Dang it, that hurt."

"This match is already over." Proclaimed Neji with absolute seriousness, "You're within the area of my **Eight Trigrams**." Neji immediately began to take this match seriously the moment he began to see Naruto's stamina and chakra abilities, Neji would now pull out his ace, " **Gentle Fist Art**. **Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms**."

With no time to react, Naruto was completely caught off guard by Neji's sudden rush toward him.

Neji spun on his right foot, " **Eight Tetragrams**... Two Palms!" Neji sealed off two chakra points immediately, "Four Palms. Eight Palms. Sixteen Palms. Thirty-Two Palms. Sixty-Four Palms!" With the ruthless assaulting technique finished, Naruto was launched backwards with all of his chakra points sealed.

Naruto just lie on the ground, curled up in a pseudo fetal position. The proctor began to walk over to the downed body of the orange ninja. However, the proctor stopped once Naruto began trying to get up again, instead taking a step back to continue watching the match.

"I've pressed the sixty-four chakra points all over your body, you can't even stand." Neji deactivated his **Byakugan** , looking down upon the defeated boy in the orange jumpsuit below him. "Are you frustrated? Kneeling down before power that can't be changed and knowing your powerlessness." Neji smirked as he continued seeing Naruto struggle to stand upright, "Your dreams will come true if you work hard. That's just an illusion."

Naruto managed to stand up straight, putting his hand over his stomach to try and contact the Kyuubi, but with his chakra blocked, there was no way to push chakra to the seal to communicate. It seemed like he was stuck if the ball of fur was still sleeping.

Neji saw Naruto's passion and understood that he still wished to continue the match, "Stop already... It'll be the same even if you fight more than this." Neji looked almost sympathetic toward Naruto, "I don't have a grudge particularly against you."

Naruto was almost shocked at his words, but recovered quickly, "S-shut up. Even if you say that, I still have something against you." Naruto started to try and use chakra to communicate with the Kyuubi, but it seemed like he couldn't even feel his chakra anymore, "I can't forgive those who would label others failures, preach about how we have inescapable destinies, and how you're living on a set path."

Neji frowned at Naruto, "You shouldn't meddle in other's affairs. But if it's a lesson that you want. I'll give you one on the Hyuuga clan's destiny of hatred." Neji looked rightly demonic at the thought of everything in the Hyuuga clan, "There's a special technique, passed down through the head family, a **Curse Seal Technique**. It's a mark given to those of the side branch, binding them to a destiny of servitude that they can't escape." Neji removed his headband, revealing an "X" shaped seal with lines stretching across his forehead.

Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing, a curse seal. Meant for enslavement. In the Leaf Village?

Neji continued to explain the tragedies that befell him in his life; getting the curse seal placed on him, seeing it used on his father, and how his father was sent to the Hidden Cloud Village as appeasement in place of the head family's father.

"The fate of my father was decided the moment his brother was born before him. Just as your destiny was decided at the point when I became your opponent." Neji proclaimed at the end of his speech. "Your destiny was to lose to me. So you will lose against me."

Naruto was slowly gaining strength back, he could almost feel like he could walk normally, though he still couldn't feel the slightest trace of his chakra pool, "I can't say much about your screwed up family. But you don't know if you'll lose until you try!"

Neji put his head band back on, once more covering up the curse seal marring his forehead, "You're hopeless." Neji reactivated his **Byakugan** intended to end Naruto in a single hit. Neji sped toward Naruto and landed a single palm thrust on his solar plexus. With no chakra added to the hit, Naruto didn't die, but was sent tumbling meters away from Neji. Neji proclaimed once more, "Proctor... it's over."

Naruto lay limply on the ground, feeling the pain of having all of his chakra points sealed, and being beaten and battered by someone who far outclassed him in raw speed and potential. But Naruto doesn't know how to give up. Once more Naruto returned to his feet, calling out to Neji, "Don't... run away. I won't... run..." Naruto stands limply there once more, with his hand still hovering over his stomach, "I'll stand by my own words. That's my ninja way!"

Neji's eye nearly twitched. Seeing the same failure getting up from beatings and batters that would have many hardened shinobi down on the ground ready to give up was beginning to frustrate him. The look plastered on Neji's face screamed out disgust and loathing for everything that Naruto stood for in his eyes.

"You with all of your destiny stuff... I won't lose to a jerk with cold feet like you, no matter what!"

Neji continued to stare at the runt that dared question his ideals and long standing beliefs, "A brat who knows nothing... Shouldn't lecture arrogantly! People are born burdened with an inherent destiny that they cannot defy. You can't possible understand the destiny of being burdened with a mark that cannot be wiped off for life!" Neji pointed his right hand at Naruto, trying to focus his frustrations out on him, trying to make Naruto see the hypocrisy of his foolish beliefs.

Naruto was panting for breath, barely able to stand at all. But kept his hand firmly locked on his stomach, even more so now as he recalled learning about the Nine Tails sealed within him. About meeting the Kyuubi and understanding his side of the story a bit better. He recalled the torment of his early years of life as a child, because of this seal that would always be stuck on him. If it breaks he dies, if it loosens he loses his mind, just having it makes people scorn you and drives people away.

He who knows nothing about destiny and seals...

"Yeah... I do understand it. So... what of it?" Naruto asked Neji, "Don't be acting cool... It's not just you who's special! Hinata was also suffering the same as you! Even though she's the head family, not being acknowledged as such – trying desperately to change herself..." Naruto continued to wobble on his legs while speaking, "She fought you while coughing up blood with that in mind! You too! The branch family that protects the head family... Doing all that to Hinata just because it's an exam. In actuality, you were just as frantic in attempting to go against destiny, right?"

Naruto began coughing again, as blood spat up from the internal injuries he suffered from Neji's previous beatings. "Your sixty-four chakra points are shut. How are you planning on fighting me if you can't use chakra?" The proctor seemed curious to that answer too, almost intending on stopping the fight then and there to prevent a premature death, "You and Lady Hinata have the same destiny! Show me that anything you've said so far has any merit!"

"I will! I'll defeat you no matter what and prove it to you!" Naruto was having an internal panic still though, he now has the ability to move semi-freely again, but still can't feel any chakra within him at all. 'Come on Kyuubi! Come on you furry bastard! I know you're in there!'

"That's enough talking. Proctor, from this point forward I'm going at him with the intent to kill. If you're going to stop me, please feel free." Neji proclaimed, slightly on edge about actually having to go full out versus the blond failure.

Naruto gave a harrumph sound as he felt part of his chakra start returning to him, that was enough... Putting his hand over his gut, and sending a small amount of chakra there, Naruto let out a massive, mental scream, 'Fox! Help me out here! I need you to clear out my chakra points!'

Suddenly, Naruto felt a massive flood of energy flow through him. Wind began spiraling around Naruto as red strings of energy began seeping from him. Nine streams of red energy flowed from Naruto's body as he kept his hand on his stomach for when he had enough of his own chakra back to communicate with Kyuubi.

Neji was freaking out though, as was much of the audience at seeing Naruto free himself from having all of his chakra points pressed.

The winds began to calm down more and more as the red energy quickly seeped back into Naruto, not leaving any hint of the Nine Tails' chakra.

Naruto noticed immediately that a large part of his chakra was missing, likely due to that give-take relationship with the seal when he took the fox's chakra. Though Naruto immediately sent some of the small amount of chakra that he had left to the seal on his stomach, 'Thanks for the help Kyuubi. Though you could've kept the display down to a minimum.'

Naruto could feel the ire coming from the Fox after saying that, 'I'd like to see you try to unblock all of your body's chakra points in one go, right after waking up! It's not easy without a little excessive force! Now, you better stop screwing around and start taking this seriously.'

Naruto had an internal laugh at almost having lost in such a stupid way because he didn't want to show off too much, too late for that now though, 'Got it, got it.'

Naruto stood up straight, not a single cut or injury on him anymore. And if not for Neji's **Byakugan** , that showed how little of Naruto's chakra was actually left after that show of power, Neji would believe Naruto was back in perfect health again. "That was completely pointless. You've expended all of your chakra to heal up and unblock your chakra points. You didn't have anything else up your sleeve? Just a redo of your beating?"

Naruto gave a thoughtful look, "It's really uncomfortable not being able to feel your chakra, being able to feel it at all is better than not at all, even if it's so little." Naruto smiled, "Besides, I don't need chakra for anything else from this point on."

Neji scoffed, believing Naruto to have lost the last remaining sanity he may have had, "You're suicidal to think you could match me in a fight without chakra, when you couldn't even scratch me with chakra."

The proctor himself continued to watch the two of them, and while shocked at the recovery of the Uzumaki, stood at the ready, knowing the Hyuuga was going to hold his word about going in for the kill from here on out.

Neji, instead of waiting for Naruto's first move like at the beginning of the match, rushed straight for him, hand rushing straight for the heart to land an instant-kill blow on the orange ninja.

Naruto smiled widely in his normal way. Naruto raised up his right hand and pointed his finger at Neji, with his thumb pointing to the sky, " **Naruto** **Uzumaki Style: Push**."

Like a hammer, his thumb smacked into his pointed finger, setting the technique into motion.

Neji saw a brief light from below his feet after Naruto's technique, appearing as some sort of circle below him. Suddenly, Neji felt the ground below him removed as he was a mere few paces from hitting Naruto.

Neji's flight stopped after a few meters, causing him to tumble on the ground another few feet. It hardly hurt, but the practice of what Naruto's technique had done sent a shock through his system.

Naruto sent him flying back with hardly an effort, with a mere pointed finger. And from what he could see with his **Byakugan** , Naruto didn't expend any chakra with the technique, no chakra ran through any of his coils with the technique. "Impossible..." Neji said as he started to regain his footing, the audience in just as much shock.

Naruto walked forward a few paces, his huge smile still on his face, "What was that Neji?" Naruto laughed a bit at the fun of it.

"Impossible!" Yelled Neji the moment he was standing upright again, "A technique like that, that takes no chakra?! It's impossible!" Neji's rational mind went into overdrive, a technique like that had to have some sort of weakness, every technique needed a weakness. Maybe if he avoided the finger? "Heh, so that's it." Neji blurred and swerved at a pace almost undetectable to Naruto.

Naruto still maintained his smile though, dropping his hand from its pointed position. Naruto knew he had about another few seconds before Neji would reach him and kill him, so he would react before then, " **Naruto Uzumaki Style: Push**." Naruto's hand were to his side, not pointing at anything.

At this moment, Neji knew something was wrong, but it was too late.

" _You're terrible with names, Naruto. Why don't you just keep their normal names. **Movement Type** **Magic** **: Launcher** has a much better ring to it." The Kyuubi asked to his blonde container._

" _Because it doesn't have that Naruto Uzumaki flavor in it! Beside, what does it matter anyways. I'd rather people think I'm pushing them than launching them. It seems more impossible that way, and makes it harder to predict what the technique can do." Naruto responded calmly, thinking about his newest technique that he learned._

 _The Kyuubi wasn't impressed though, "I suppose."_

 _Naruto was thinking heavily about what he'd learned through the past weeks, "There is still an issue though. I need a target to launch them with the technique. Most of these techniques I have need targets for them to work."_

" _So, what's the matter? You just look or point at them and the technique will work. There's no easier way to do it." The Kyuubi felt Naruto's nitpicking of the techniques was pointless, "Beside, if you really don't want to have to look at them, just use-"_

" _No. I need a way to fight someone blindly without killing them." Naruto was against killing pointlessly. It was inevitable, regardless of what time you're in, as the Shinju Tree's memories had pointed out, but if it could be avoided... "What if, instead of setting an object to move at a certain vector. I set all targets in an area to move at a vector opposite of a target."_

 _The Kyuubi was mindful, understanding the benefit of the technique, "I'm not sure. Keep working on it, and move on to the next technique once you've figured out whatever it is you're trying."_

" **Naruto Uzumaki Style: Push**."

Once again, as Neji came close to striking range, he was blown back off his feet and went tumbling away from Naruto. Even though he was sure Naruto couldn't even see him, let alone be able to target him with that technique. "That's an annoying technique." Neji huffed as he stood up again, a bit dirty, but otherwise unharmed.

Naruto still maintained his smile nonetheless, "I told you Neji. I will win. And I'll prove once and for all, that Hinata wasn't wrong." Naruto pointed his finger at Neji, with the same hand positioning as before, index finger outstretched toward Neji, and his opposable finger pointing toward the sky. " **Naruto Uzumaki Style: Down**."

" _Why do you even need to say the technique names. Isn't is counter productive to let the enemy know when you're using a technique?" The Kyuubi stared at the boy practicing his techniques._

" _Because it makes them unique to me! Gives them a name for people to fear!" Naruto said as he prepared to cast the **Weight Type Magic: Aggravation**. " **Naruto Uzumaki Style: Down**! Beside, won't it be surprising when someone suddenly finds themselves on the ground with no way of knowing how it happened? Hehehe."_

 _Kyuubi was skeptical, but if Naruto believed it would help then he wouldn't bother._

Neji felt a pressure flatten him on the ground, causing him to be unable to get up. "Grrugk," Neji grunted as he tried to get up, but his body could hardly move enough to make out any words. He could feel his own blood struggling to move throughout his body, causing him to feel slightly feight as blood couldn't move freely to his brain. It would be a matter of time before he loses consciousness and the match.

"I told you Neji, destiny isn't set in stone. Hinata wasn't wrong. I'm going to win today because I'm right, there is no destiny controlling you." Naruto knelt down next to Neji, confident that Neji couldn't strike back against him. "Fate is the lie Neji, you can achieve whatever you want to with effort and determination. Even a failure like me could beat a genius like you, because I worked for it."

Neji heard every last word that Naruto said before he passed out.

The proctor, seeing Neji unable to move and now passed out, declared the winner of the match, "Winner! Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowds cheered for the exciting match where beliefs fought against each other and the Hyuuga prodigy was defeated by the orange failure.

And the crowds were anxious for more. Sasuke Uchiha was up next!


End file.
